Wednesday, May 6, 2009

aegean

Last weekend I went on a spontaneous trip to a town called Bodrum, which is on the Aegean coast of Turkey. Bodrum is an hour and a half flight from Istanbul and the perfect place to relax in the sun, swim in the sea and have a few cocktails. I can't think of anything I enjoy more than swimming in the sea— I was in that clear, clear water the second I could jump in. Since it was the beginning of the season, the weather was a bit chillier than I had hoped, but still quite lovely.

Bodrum is a massive tourist attraction in the summertime, but it was relatively empty this weekend. Being one of the few young females around, I had to put up with a lot of staring. Many tourists and foreigners living in Turkey are bothered by the staring, since we are brought up with the notion that it's rude— here, on the other hand, staring is quite a normal thing. Both men and women will stare, and I have found that it doesn't really mean anything. You just have to ignore it. I am actually happy to be in a culture that is open to staring—I can be as indiscreet as I want to be when drawing people in public.